The Temperate Princess and the Temperamental Paul
by fruitpop24
Summary: Rachel Black returns to La Push temporarily to set things right with her family. She is always cool, calm and collected. Except for when it comes to Paul Lahote, a veritable emotional piece of work. But damn, the boy is so hot! And she's not just referring to his abnormally high body temperature...
1. The Breakdown

_Rachel_

_Not again_, Rachel thought to herself as her car broke down for not the first, not the second, but the third time that year. "As if returning to this hellhole, wasn't bad enough," she muttered to herself.

She had decided to drive down from DC rather than take a flight, which in hindsight was probably not the best decision given the temperamental nature of her car. She had had enough. The first thing she would do when she reached her fog-ridden, 18th century hometown would be to trade the piece of scrap metal for a prius. She didn't care how embarrassing she would look in it. She lay her forehead on her steering wheel and willed herself to take four deep, long breaths. She had one of two choices. Have her mental breakdown here or wait till she was in the confines of her childhood bedroom, where the deed would at least be more warranted.

Rachel sighed, straightened herself up and took a look out the passenger window. _Jackpot_!

"Lahote Garage and Tow Service. How can we help you?"

_"Hello? Hi, my car just broke down on the I67. I think there's something wrong with the ignition. I think I am going to have it fixed or towed."_

"Where on the 167 are you ma'am?

_"125 miles from La Push. I was lucky enough to have broken down near a pay phone. I found your number in the yellow pages there. "_

"And what is your name, ma'am?"

_"Rachel. Rachel Black."_

"Black? Say, you're not related to Billy and Jacob Black, are you?"

Five seconds of silence._ "er-yes."_

"Well, I'll be damned! Rachel, Billy's little daughter! How are you honey?"

_"I'm, um, fine. Who is this?" _

Oh sugar, it's Kirk Lahote. Kelly Lahote's brother. Paul's uncle. You remember Paul, right? You guys all used to be put up together when the adults would have plans. You, that sister of yours, Jacob, Paul and his little sister, Steph."

Another few seconds of silence. "Yeeaaah, of course…Paul and his sister…how are they?"

"Good, good. Hey, Paul, guess who's in town?" Rachel could hear a disinterested grunt in the background. "It's Rachel Black! You remember her and her sister, don't you?"

Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn't even gotten one foot into La Push and already she was getting a migraine.

She heard another disinterested, and this time dismissive, grunt.

"Well, Steph's good anyways." She almost heard Mr. Lahote's shrug through the phone.

_"Right. So, anyhow, Mr. Lahote—"_

"Kirk—"

_"Kirk, do you think you could send someone by sometime soon to help me?" Like maybe in this century? she wanted to add._

"Yeah, of course dear. I'll send Paul right over."

"Thanks."

"Now, you got insurance there, honey?

"Er, well, actually—"

"Not. A. Problem. You're practically family. We'll take a look at it and then see what the damage is. If you don't need any spare parts, we won't need to charge anything."

_"You really don't—"_

"Now, now, sugar. I don't want to hear it. Paul will be out there in 40 minutes tops. You take care now. Make sure you don't get eated by any wolves before he comes and gets you!"

_Wolves?_ Great, now Rachel had an entirely new irrational fear to add to her already overbrimming list of neuroses.

_Paul_

"Paul, you gotta make a repair or a tow on the I67. Take your tools but more than likely, the car will probably need an all round check up since there's a faulty ignition involved—are you even listening to me, son?"

Paul looked up from underneath the white Saturn's body where he was checking the brake compression on the tires. He was covered in oil and soot and gave another one of his signature growls that he had suddenly developed a year ago.

"I'm listening," Paul growled.

"Good. So can you get to it?"

"I'm busy, Kirk. I have to meet up with Sam and Jared."

"Look, son. I already told you that I don't understand what is going on with your kids but I try not to make a big deal out of it, but now there's a helpless girl waiting out in the cold, for a bloody tow. And it's not just any girl. It's Rachel Black, your old childhood friend! Have you got no heart, kid?"

Paul winced at that. _I have two hearts now, my dear ignorant uncle. And one of them I have no fucking control over, _Paul thought to himself.

"I don't remember any Rachel Black, Kirk and if it's Jacob's sister, shouldn't he be the one to go get her?"

"Fine, fine you don't worry a hair on your pretty little head, you little punk! I'll go get the girl, myself."

That was it! Paul had had it. He threw the wrench at the side at the garage wall and ran out into the woods.

"Hey son, geez, I'm sorry!" He could hear his uncle's apology disappearing into the wind as he burst into fur and teeth and claws before he could get his clothes off.

_Goddamnit! _That was another pair of cutoffs he'd need to purchase.

_Hey, aren't you early? _

_Shut up, Jared. We all had to meet up in ten minutes anyhow._

_Jesus, don't need to bite my—_

_Quiet both you. Jacob and Quil and waiting at Emily's. Head there now._

_Yes alpha_, both wolves called out.

_Wait…I ripped my jeans._

_Figured, _Jared snickered.

_Shut up Jared!_

_Paul_, Sam called out,_ I keep some extra cutoffs behind the large boulder besides the house. You can use one of them. We all meet up in ten._


	2. The Fight

_CHAPTER 2_

_Rachel_

Rachel jumped out of the red pick up with her backpack. "Thank you so much for picking me up, Kirk. I was really beginning to worry."

"No problem, honey. Just sorry that Paul couldn't make it. He was really excited about hearing that you're back in town."

"I'm sure," she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, Paul has become super busy lately. He and Sam Uley, Jared Teomen, Quil Aterea and even your brother—"

"Jacob? Why is he hanging out with these guys? Aren't they all older than him?"

"Well, yeah, I guess you're right. Don't really know what those kids are always upto but they haven't gotten into any trouble yet. Mostly kid stuff, I'm guessing. Maybe some booze and weed."

Rachel stopped in her tracks. "What do you mean Mr. La—Kirk? Alcohol and drugs are banned on the reservation and Jacob is not the sort of kid to get mixed up in all that."

"Aw honey, it's just me speculating. I really don't know what they get upto. I just know that they have some bonfires and hang out by the cliffs once in awhile. Other than that, maybe nothing."

"Nothing, my ass," Rachel muttered to herself again as she waved off Mr Lahote and opened the screen door to her old home. One more deep breath before, "dad, I'm home."

_Paul_

"Ok, now that we're all here, we finally need to come to a decision about the Bella Swan girl," Sam started

"What is there to discuss?!" cried out Jacob. "The leeches are going to turn her into one, which breaks the pact. We need to stop them now!"

Paul snickered at the boy's hysteria as he reached for another muffin. That vamp chick had Jacob, metaphorically, tied on a leash salivating for her approval. Hell, if she asked, he'd even put on a real leash and follow her around like a lost puppy.

"We need to stop you now," muttered Paul under his breath.

"What was that Paul?"

"Paul didn't mean anything Jake," started Jared.

"I said,'we need to stop you and your whiny ass," growled Paul as he slowly got up from his chair.

"Really," Jacob laughed bitterly, "you remember when we fought last time, jerk? I had you pinned in under twenty seconds. Wanna see if we can beat that record?"

"You punk," yelled Paul before he lunged at the younger boy.

Jared tried to hold him back while Quil was trying to calm Jacob down.

"Knock it off boys!" yelled Sam

"Sam," Emily's soft voice called out from the living room. "There's a call for Jacob."

Jacon returned to the kitchen after five minutes all smiles. "What happened?" asked Emily from Sam's side. The boys had calmed down and they were now just playing cards around the table with Paul occasionally shooting death glares at Jacob.

"Rachel's back."

Emily visibly tensed. Rachel was a friend of Leah's and therefore might not take too well to her. Sam noticed and started rubbing soothing circles on her back and whispering how much he loved her in her ear. That seemed to be working as she was slowly relaxing into his hold again.

"Who's Rachel?" asked Quil who was the newest member of the pack.

"One of my two adorable and annoying older twin sisters."

"You have sisters?" cried out Quil.

"Yep. Rebecca got married and is settled in Hawaii and Rachel was in college in DC. She just got back apparently. Kirk brought her down…which means you!" he pointed to Paul, "left my sister out there in the fucking middle of nowhere with leeches crawling all over the place when her car broke down. You fucking asshole."

"That's it!"

"Paul don't ruin another—dammnit," swore Sam as the two boys transformed half way out of the house.

_Rachel_

Rachel opened the screen door to see a bruised and disheveled Jacob with only a pair of cargo pants on. It had started to rain and now Jacob was all wet.

"Jacob," Rachel gasped. "What happened to you?"

Jacob scratched the back of his head and looked sheepish. "Nothing. Just got into a mild fight?"

"Mild! You call this mild?! She shook her head disapprovingly before realizing he was still out in the cold.

"Come here," she sighed. She gave him a hug. "Ugh, not so tight. You're getting me all wet and your body feels feverish!" She grabbed a towel from the guest bathroom and started drying him off. She made him sit down on a kitchen chair and started roughly drying his hair. When she was done she kissed the top of his head as he wrapped his arms around her from the back of the chair. "I missed you Rach."

"I missed you too," she said quietly, ruffling his hair.

"I wish you would come down more often. After mom—"

"Please Jakey, I don't want to talk about it." She blinked back the tears forming in her eyes and finally took a proper look at her brother.

"Oh my God, Jacob what happened to you?!"

Jacob got up and smirked at her. "I'm a grown man now, Rach," he winked at her.

She swatted his chest. "Grown man? Jacob! I expected a growth spurt, but this looks like you've been taking hormone injections and God knows what else? Did your new friends get you into this? And why is your body temperature so high? Is this stuff getting you ill?"

"No Rach," Jacob rolled his eyes. My friends are all very cool. No drinking, no drugs…well, except for Paul occasionally. I think he sneaks into the bars outside the perimeter with a fake ID to get a little drunk."

"There's no such thing as a little drunk. I don't want you hanging out with these kids anymore."

"Oh, come on, Rach! As if you never got drunk in college? And besides you should really meet the guys before you make these accusations. Didn't you used to tell me to never judge a book yada yada."

Rachel opened her mouth as if to retort and thought better of it. She wouldn't openly verbalize it but she had had her share of drunken parties and she _had_ told him to never judge a book by its cover. But in her defense, in the latter case, it was to convince him to read Moby Dick, which was assigned to the boy in the eighth grade! "Fine," she sighed, resigned. But I want to meet these boys, Jacob. I need to make sure you're ok."

Jacob gave her a wide grin that she couldn't help but return. "How about tomorrow afternoon at the beach? We might even have a bonfire after!"

Jacob seemed to excited at the prospect that Rachel could only giggle. His body may have changed, but at heart, Jakey was still Jakey. A happy, loving teenage kid. "Ok, fine."

"Great! Also," he looked around, "where's dad?"

"Dad went to be awhile back. I made him some pasta and sent him off." At the sound of past, Jacob's stomach gave a loud growl. Rachel laughed. "Should I make you something to eat too?"

He looked sheepish again. "Yes, please?"


	3. The Introductions

_CHAPTER 3_

_Paul_

Paul grumbled as he walked along First Beach with the boys, Kim and Emily. Jared and Kim had their hands intertwined, laughing and kissing each other and only occasionally ever even realizing that there were other people around them who would find their antics puke-worthy. Sam had his arm around Emily and they were looking at the waves on the ocean and discussing grocery shopping. He thought to himself how lucky he was that he hadn't morphed into an idiot thanks to a stupid imprint. Losing your independence, your sense of self preservation, hell, even your balls, to a girl just because she would bat her pretty little eyelashes at you annoyed Paul. He wouldn't live for anyone other than for himself, his brothers and Steph. Any maybe his uncle, on a good day. Still as he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye, Sam lovingly brush a stray strand of hair behind Emily's hair, he felt something close to a pang. He immediately buried the feeling under more irritation and anger.

They saw Jacob jogging towards them from the right. "Hey guys, thanks for all coming out here. Rach is just being Rach." He rolled his eyes. She's there near the ice cream cart.

Paul looked over. Next to a bunch of twelve year olds getting ice cream, stood a goddess. She was tall— five foot eight, he thought, with smooth mocha skin and wavy, ink black hair. She had on a white tank top with a white over shirt and tight denim shorts that showed him just how long her legs were. He couldn't see her face properly as she was facing away from them. "Wow dude. Your sister is hot!"

"Shut up Quil!" growled both Jacob and Paul. They looked at each other like something was wrong. Jacob started jogging to his sister but midway turned around and yelled, "hurry up!" to the rest of them.

The moment they reached Rachel and she turned around, Paul started feeling weird. "So, Rach," Jacob started. "This is Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, Quil and Paul."

"Nice to meet you all." She started shaking everyone's hand and when she got to Paul's she frowned slightly. _So this is the kid who goes out drinking and has probably been the one influencing Jake._

She looked back at Sam and Paul had to fight himself to not turn her around again to face himself.

_Rachel_

"Sam, I think you and I were in the same class, right? Weren't you with—," Rachel stopped mid sentence looking over at Emily. _Dammnit. Back only one day and already getting her foot in her mouth. _"Yes, we were. But then you went off to college. DC, right?" She noticed how he completely ignored the Leah question. "Yup." She gave him a tight smile.

"DC? Cool. I've never even been outside the Washington! And after this, I probably never will," exclaimed the kid who Jake introduced as Quil. He went to take Rachel's hand again when she heard a deep seated growl from her side. It was that Paul boy again—although she could hardly call any of them boys. They all her dwarfed her and she wasn't too small to begin with. He kept looking at her funny—equal parts awe and disgust and then she might have been imagining it but she thought she could see him visibly shaking. Like he couldn't contain himself and something from inside was bursting to get out. "Jacob," she softly whimpered, moving closer to her brother's side.

"Aw, hell no!" cried Jacob. "Not my sister! Not my fucking sister, you mongrel!" Jacob reached over to Paul and they started getting into it fists flying at each other.

"Jacob, stop it! Jakey, please!"

Sam was running towards the boys immediately, Quil take the girls home. Now! That's an order."

Rachel didn't even have the time to wonder how Sam suddenly seemed to have such authority over the boys as all she could do was stare at Jake and Paul trying to kill each other as Quil physically dragged her into a car.

As the chevy impala that had definitely seen better days pulled into her driveway, Rachel shuddered. She was going to have to talk to her father about this. It was just her and Quil left in the car as he slowly dropped the girls off one by one. They were all laughing and joking like they hadn't just witnessed two teenage boys brutally beating each other up. Rachel wanted to scream but was too numb to get her mouth to move. Several times Quil or Emily or the other girl said that this was just the way the boys behaved and that both Jacob and Paul would be fine. She wanted to snap at them that she had seen her brother's damaged body just the night before. Although, even she had to admit that this morning when she went to check on his bruises, they all seemed to have disappeared.

She heard the ignition turn off. Quil sighed besides her. "Look, I know it must have looked bad but we keep telling you, they'll be fine. This isn't even their worst fight yet! You should have seen them a couple weeks ago when Emily had only one slice of her famous four cheese lasagna left. Now _that_ was a fight worth watching! They chang—er—charged right on the patio and nearly took down the whole house!"

Emily didn't know what to say. She cracked a small smile just to make Quil feel better, although she was getting more and more worried for her brother. _What kind of animals had he gotten himself involved with? _ "There, see? It's funny," laughed Quil. Rachel finally looked over at him. "Quil? Quil Aterea?"

"Um, yes."

"Oh my God, Quil! I used to babysit you!"

Quil pulled a grossed out face. "No you didn't."

"Um, yeah, I definitely did. You were so cute as a baby. I remember this one time you nearly choked on a lego!"

Quil looked at her suddenly mortified.

"And your mom warned us that you often had 'accidents' at night. But thankfully that never happened while Rebecca and I were at your place."

Quil suddenly looked squeamish. Here he was thinking how hot Jacob's sister was and she remembered him peeing in his bed and chocking on building blocks.

"Er, yeah. Great."

"Oh, no Quil, I didn't mean to embarrass you! It was just that I can't believe how much you've grown up. I don't remember seeing you at school."

"Yeah, we moved away from La Push for a long time and just returned two years ago." He became thoughtful. "I was really lonely when we got back. No siblings, no friends and then Jacob came up to me in class one day asking if I wanted to hang out with them—and then when the changes started happening, he and Sam and Jared and even Paul became like a godsend, you know? I wouldn't have survived any of it without them."

"Changes?"

"Yeah, you know—" he turned to her and then froze.

"Go on Quil."

"Go on what?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You know, some changes started happening like…"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I gotta go. I meant regular changes. Boy turning into man ones, and all you know.

Rachel looked at his keenly for a few seconds.

"Quil, are you, by any chance gay?"

Quil let out a huge sigh of relief. _Wait, what?_

"Cause it's ok, you know. It's completely natural. You were just born that way."

Quil's face went bright red. "No, I'm not _gay_," sputtered Quil indignantly. "I just—"

"It's ok, you don't owe me any explanations. I'm going to have go now anyhow. I need to talk to my dad about Jake. And Paul."

At the thought of Paul, her stomach did a strange flip. She still remembered the way he looked at her. It was so intense. Like he wanted to hold her and at the same time hurt her for something she did to him. She shivered.

Quil thinking she was scared, tried to soothe her. "hey, yeah. Paul's not actually a bad guy. I mean, yeah, he has a temper problem. But if you're ever in any serious trouble, the guy will always be there to help. Plus, I mean, for you, it's especially important, that you guys get along."

"Why? Otherwise, he'll beat me up like he did with Jacob?"

"No, I didn't mean that at all!" He looked down at his knees. "Trust me, you don't want to reject him. It would hurt him too much. It might kill him," he barely whispered the last part.

Rachel was already getting spooked out. She gave him a short tight smile and bolted out of the car and into the house.

Quil put his hands on his face. "Fuck!" He might have told her too much.

_Paul_

Sam, "ok thirty more seconds and then you guys need to get dressed and go home.

Black fur versus dark copper fur was all that anybody could see. Sam started counting down. Emily came out of the kitchen, her brows crossed in concern. Sam put his arm around her waist and tried to comfort her. "They're nearly done. They'll be ok."

She tried to smile up at him but he could see the concern etched all over her beautiful face.

"Ok, time's up guys! Get dressed."

Miraculously the two bloodied wolves limped to behind the large boulder and out emerged two bloody and bruised boys.

"I told you I'm not even interested in your sister!"

"Well, keep it that way ass-hat!"

"You'll ruin her even worse that what Sam did to Emily!"

Sam stiffened and was himself about to beat the snot out of the kids but Emily held him back, softly caressing his arms and kissing his neck, whispering that it means the boys understood consequences.

Instead he settled for a "shut it, both of you!" snarl.

"I wouldn't," whispered Paul softly, not meeting anyone's eye. But even he was terrified of losing his temper in front of Rachel. _Rachel_. Just the thought of her made him want to do stupid things. He had the urge to change back into his wolf form and have her rub his belly and his ears. Put silly pink floral wreaths on him like he saw Kim do to Jared's wolf once. He wanted to have her ride him as he ran through the forest. The idea of him riding her then started having other effects on his anatomy. He was trying really hard _not _ to get hard. Her skin glistening with sweat on top of him, that wavy hair flowing down her arched back like a black waterfall. Her breasts softly flopping as she ground into him. _Fuck!_ He needed to take a long, cold shower.

"Don't you dare be thinking about my sister right now!"

"I'm not, ok. I don't care about the bitch!" Even as he said it, his mouth felt gross and bitter.

"Don't you ever talk about her that way!"

"Paul, Jacob, enough! Look Paul, whether you like it or not, you imprinted on her, which means you can't not be with her. And Jake, you know as well as everyone else here, the power and permanence of an imprint. There's nothing short of killing your sister or Paul that can be done to resolve this situation in any other way."

"The latter can be arranged," mumbled Jacob as he started for his house.

Paul gave a noncommittal grunt. "I don't want her. I don't want to become a simpering fool for anybody. Especially not for some old aged college skank who is going to try and leave me anyways," he yelled out as he headed for Uncle Kirk's.

Emily just shook her head and grabbed onto Sam tighter. "It'll be mating season soon, Paul! You might regret your convictions then!" yelled out Sam to his retreating form.

"It'll be ok, honey. We didn't have it easy either, remember?" Sam looked at his fiancé with loving understanding. "I know Sam," she smiled up at him gently, "I know."

_Rachel _

The moment Jacob got home, Rachel held onto him so tightly he thought he was going to have to pry her off with industrial grade pliers. Then when she finally let go, she smacked him on the side of the head."Ow" "What were you thinking?! That boy was bigger and older that you! Look at you! There's more blood and cuts and oh my God, dad!" He could see her eyes were welling with tears and he held her close and cooed at her like she was a child. "Hey, it's ok, Rach. Nothing happened. We just got into a little fight that's all."

"You keep saying that Jake! But what does that mean? Does this boy hit you like this on a daily basis? Have you gone to the police? or at least the Principal? Please tell me what's going on?"

Jacob sighed. "Dad, we need to talk. Rach, I'm starved. Is there anything to eat?" Rachel looked at him dumbfounded. "You think you're going to have a talk with dad, without me? Did you forget that I am the older one here?" she said heatedly.

"It's nothing like that Rach. I'm just extremely hungry." On cue his stomach gave a big rumble. Rachel rolled her eyes and gave him a small what-are-we-going-to-do-with-you? smile. I'll grill you some chicken and vegetables. Jacob gave his sister a quick kiss on her hair and turned to Billy the moment Rachel moved to the kitchen.

"Paul imprinted on Rachel." They both looked at each other. Nothing more needed to be said.

_Paul_

"I'm home." Kirk looked up from his newspaper. "Paul, I keep telling you as long as you're under this roof—"

"I know, I know," muttered Paul.

He stopped for a second and just looked around. They lived in a dump. The tiny living room attached to the even tinier kitchenette looked old, dusty, grimy and every other unsanitary word out there in the human language. The sink in the kitchenette was filled with dirty dishes and the counter was covered in bills, coupons and empty pizza boxes. How could he ever even think that a girl—woman—like Rachel could ever be with a guy like him. There was nothing he could offer her. The imprint must have been wrong. She was a goddess and he wasn't even a serf. They lived like animals here.

A squeal came from the top of the stairs and a blur of blonde headed for Paul. "Paulie," cried the little girl and wrapped her arms around his legs. "Hey, blondie, why aren't you in bed yet?"

"I was waiting for you," cried out the little seven year old with a pout. "I tried to tuck her in but she was having none of that without her big brother," sighed Kirk with subtle fondness.

"Ok, blondie. We'll have it your way. Pick a book and I'll be in our room in a minute." "Ok," she beamed at him and for those few seconds Paul's heart melted. Not all females were cold and selfish he thought. Paul went to wipe the dirt and blood from his body using a rag in the kitchen.

"Uh, thanks Kirk." He felt lump form in his throat. "For, uh, trying to put her to sleep."

"Family, Paul. Family," replied Kirk from behind his newspaper. "You need to stop getting into fights, son." After a moment's hesitation. "I worry about you too, you know."

Paul washed his head in the sink with some dishwashing soap and towel dried it with the same dirty rag he used to wipe his body down. "I know," he whispered as he climbed the stairs.


	4. The Surprise Guest

CHAPTER 4

_Rachel_

Rachel was becoming more and more annoyed with her brother and father. When she finally returned with Jake's dinner the night before, the two were in a very intense, quiet conversation. They both immediately stopped talking when she entered the room and kept giving each other knowing looks from over her head as she tried to examine Jacob's fresh new wounds. She was going to kill that Paul kid when she saw him next. Yes, it was one thing to think he was quite attractive in an angry scowl-y teenager way, but it was another to allow anyone to hurt her baby brother this way.

This morning when she woke up, the first thing she saw when she came down to the kitchen was her father and Jacob again whispering to each other intently until she came in. "What is it?" she snapped. "You guys keep talking about me, I know, so you might as well tell me what's going on!"

"Nothing sweetheart." He seemed to hesitate for a second. "We might have a guest coming over for lunch today. Rachel didn't understand what the big deal was unless this was her father's way of politely asking her to prepare something fancier than usual. "Ok, I'll just go get changed and head to the supermarket for supplies." Half way up the stairs, she realized her car was still at the garage. "Actually, Jake can you drive me there? My car is still at the Lahote garage." At the mention of Lahote, Jake looked annoyed but grunted out a quick, "yeah, sure." A small lump formed in Rachel's throat as she headed upstairs to brush her teeth and get changed. Her mother was the one who always cooked for guests. She taught both Rachel and Rebecca how to prepare some of the most delicious, simple recipes. Rebecca had a natural talent and passion for cooking, while Rachel just hung around and practiced just to be close to the two of them. She wiped at her tears as she decided to make the best darned sit down meal ever. "For mom," she whispered softly.

_Paul_

It was five in the morning and the kitchen phone started ringing. Careful so as not to wake up Stephanie, Paul bolted down the stairs, and thanks to his super human speed, picked up the receiver after the first ring.

_"Paul, it's Billy."_

Paul ran a hand through his hair.

_"We need to talk."_

_Rachel_

Rachel had gone out of her way today. She set the rarely used dining table with her mother's favorite floral summer set, prepared spaghetti bolognese, sautéed peppers, a roast beef and a garden salad. And for dessert, a peach pie was baking in the oven, just like her mom made them. When Billy rolled into the dining room from the guest bedroom, which was now converted to his room, he had tears in his eyes. The room was set just like Linda used to set it; the kitchen smelt like her; and when he saw his daughter wearing the light pink floral dress their mother used to force her and Rebecca to wear on Sundays for the weekly tribal bonfires, he couldn't stop a few of them from falling. "You look beautiful, sweetheart and so does this place." Rachel herself, couldn't stop the tears from leaking out from the corner of her eyes. She put a napkin to them. "Stop it daddy, you're going to make me ruin my makeup." They both looked at each other smilingly for a few more seconds until the door bell rang.

Billy straightened and gave an uncomfortable smile. "That should be our guest now. Jacob probably brought him over."

"So who actually is our—" Rachel started until she opened the door.

She stared open mouthed for a full ten seconds until, "you," she snarled. And before anyone could even acknowledge the fact that perhaps jumping this little detail on her last minute was probably not a good idea, she pulled her right arm back and punched Paul as hard as she could in the face.

_Paul_

_Son of a bitch! _He thought. Damn! This girl was strong. In any other situation, Paul was much too strong and quick to have ever let an attack like that happen but he was so stunned by how beautiful Rachel looked that he didn't even notice her fist coming towards his face until it was too late.

She was dressed in a soft white and pink floral pattered dress that moulded to her top and then flared out at her hips to her knees. She had her hair done up in some kind of bun with soft whips of fair falling in front of her face and neck and a string of pearls round her delicate neck. If it were any other girl, it would look like a robotic stepford wife, but because of her sensual pink lips and her dark, mysterious eyes, not to mention the fact that her curves looked absolutely sinful in that dress, she looked like a sexy, teasing minx instead. While her mouth was open in shock, he had a keen desire to slip his tongue in and taste the moist cavern and play with her tongue. Even when her face turned into a scowl, he couldn't stop being mesmerized by how her eyes glittered and her deep breaths strained her breasts against that impossibly tight dress.

Wow! And then, what the fuck?!

He could see her nursing her poor hand. "Ouch! Goddamned! Son of a bitch! That hurts!" He could hear Jacob, that asshole, rolling on the ground outside laughing his head off. He could practically see the tears of laughter coming out of the punk's eyes!

As he reached for her hand she pulled back and started swatting at his chest. Harmless really, but it began to annoy him.

_Rachel_

"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you lay hands on my brother?! Look at you? You're older and bigger than him. Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

Paul smirked at that. _So she thinks I'm bigger and stronger than Jacob?_ The thought made him happy even though he was loathe to admit that the kid had been kicking his ass recently.

That smirk was the tipping point for Rachel. She saw red. She lunged at him and either because he wasn't as strong as he looked or because she caught him off guard, they both toppled down the patio stairs and onto the ground. By the time they reached the ground, she was holding onto him for dear life, straddling his waist and fisting her hands in his shirt. At the severely annoyed look at his face, she launched into another round of yelling and swatting at him.

_Paul_

Paul was becoming increasingly annoyed with her now. Not only had she managed to ruin one of the only clean shirts and pairs of pants he had left but the way she was moving her hips on top of him was driving him crazy and he'd be damned if he had to get through lunch with an erection tenting his pants.

"You—you're basically an animal! No human would ever behave the way you did!"

At that, Paul snapped. _Yes! Yes he was an animal_ he wanted to scream in he face. _Would she leave him now? After knowing the truth?_

He grabbed both of her wrists and flipped them over so he was the one straddling her now. He captured both of her wrists in one of his large hands and before he could stop himself he let his other hand cup her cheek almost lovingly. Her eyes turned from slits to two large saucers and back to slits as she struggled even harder under him. Her writhing her curves against him was not helping his situation and before he could once again stop himself, he growled at her. "Stop moving around!" She instantly froze. Nervousness crowding her features. _What was she thinking?_ She didn't even know this boy. She didn't know what he was capable of. What if he hit her like he hit Jacob. She started shivering and Paul wanted to snap at her all over again to not be so damned afraid of him.

_Rachel_

Finally, Billy cleared his throat loudly and all parties turned towards him. Even Jacob who was too stunned at his sister's sudden bout of violence and Paul's surprising control finally seemed to come to his senses. "Rachel, that is no way to treat our house guest." He then turned to Paul who reluctantly pulled his body away from Rachel and was now standing up. "And Paul, I expect you to not roll around in the mud with my daughter, in public or elsewhere." Paul went completely red, and he was satisfied to see that so had Rachel, as he glanced down at her. He smirked and reached out his hand to her to help her up. Before she even realized what she was doing, she took the outstretched hand and was almost instantly lifted to her feet with seemingly no effort at all. She felt like a rag doll. As she looked up to say thank you, she saw an overly self satisfied smile on Paul's face as if he had won their little fight and to spite him she dropped his hand and walked on ahead of them all in to the dining room. _She would be a good hostess alright! _she thought to herself evilly.


	5. The Lunch

_CHAPTER 5_

_Paul_

_She is one nasty piece of work,_ Paul thought to himself. After their little tussle and lecture, Rachel had immediately stomped up the stairs to fix her hair and makeup although she seemed quite content to keep her dress on. He had a feeling it was because she didn't realize how unpresentable her dress looked from the back. He could imagine she would probably die from shame and that was the only reason why all three males sat around the table kept their mouths shut.

She floated around the room serving and cooing at everyone except Paul. When he asked for some more roast beef she slammed his plate in front of him after delicately placing her father's and brother's before them. She kept an ice cold smile on her face the entire time while giving him an evil glare from on top of her water glass. Paul returned her glare. He didn't know whether he handed to pull her onto his lap and place kisses along the graceful column of her neck or pull her over his lap and spank her all across that curvy ass of hers. _This imprinting thing is really starting to mess with my head_.

He was receiving evil glares from Jacob too on his left side, whose mixed anger at having to share both his sister and now his food with his hot headed nemesis was multiplying the awkwardness of the family meal. Billy on his left side at first attempted to make idle chatter but stopped as soon as he realized he was only going to get one word, snapped responses from all the other attendants at the table. So now, here they were all chewing silently, staring at each other. Paul would have laughed if the situation weren't so tragic. _He, Paul Lahote,_ who promised never to tie himself to anything _had imprinted! _And no, his wold couldn't just imprint on some pretty doe-eyed trailer trash who would be so grateful and dependent that she would stay with him forever, he imprinted on _Rachel Black_. The girl infamous for running away from her family! _She is too beautiful, too intelligent, too independent, too darn capable. She won't need me. _The thought sobered him up and he finally broke eye contact with her. _She'll leave me the first chance she gets_.

_Rachel_

He finally looked down! Rachel smiled broadly in triumph until she saw the changing emotions on Paul's face. They turned from anger to shame to despondency. She didn't understand why but she immediately felt guilty and sad. He looked so broken down and defeated by life. And he was just a kid. She immediately froze in her seat. _Oh my God! I physically attacked a kid!_

"Um, Paul. How old are you?"

The room turned dead silent. These were the first words that she had spoken to him since after her tirade at him. And they were spoken with civility. Father and son waited for Paul's reaction, both getting ready for any signs that Paul would burst into wolf form from the sheer psychological confusion. Without looking up from his plate, Paul took a deep breath. "I'll be eighteen in August." _He was five years younger than her! _she realized. She supposed it could have been worse. He could in fact have been Jacob's age. Also, it wasn't entirely her fault. He had the body of a grown man! She looked at him more carefully now. It was easier when he wasn't looking at her with those piercing dark eyes of his. He was tall—6 foot 1 easily she guessed. He had a strong jawline, strong nose, deep set eyes and a strong, almost stern mouth but with fully pouty lips. She redirected her eyes quickly. His coloring and hair were oddly light for Quilite. Almost like he was mixed. He had a broad chest, wide shoulders and was built like a truck! She remembered falling on top of him after falling down the patio steps and remembering how solid he was. Pure muscle—she could still feel his waist between her legs; no give anywhere, not an ounce of fat! She even recalled a faint image of his hands quickly roving over her body to make sure she wasn't hurt before she started at him again. She might have imagined it though.

Her eyes moved back to his lips as he slowly stabbed at the spaghetti and put large portions of it into his mouth. He wasn't very graceful and his face was in a perpetual scowl and there was nothing really to recommend the boy to anyone except she couldn't help wondering what he looked like if he really smiled. She instantly froze again as she realized her train of thought. "I'm going to go check on the pie. I think it's ready," she mumbled.

_Paul_

Right then, Jacob, noticing something changing in his sister's appraisal of Paul, decided to remind her of his true nature. He flicked a piece of lettuce at Paul, who immediately glowered at him. Then he threw a fork at Paul before whispering, "she's too good for you, mutt. And now she thinks you're a kid. She'd sooner babysit you than date you. Maybe it'll be like the opposite of Quil and Claire's pairing."

No sooner had he said it than Paul immediately got off his chair and punched Jacob. Jacob falling to the ground, immediately retaliated and the boys got into a full fist fight right there in the dining room. Before the fight could get any further, Paul felt a sharp tug at his ear and realized Rachel was pulling both boys up by the ears and pulling them outside the house.

"That's it. I've had it with both of you!"

"But Rach—" whined Jacob.

"I saw you too Jakey! Both of you were at fault this time. And with mom's favorite dining set on display as well! What would we have done if you broke it, you, you, you buffoons!"

She turned to Jacob. "Jake, I know you're going through a rough time. I heard…about the Bella girl." Jacob stiffened. "And I am sorry that you're feeling the way you are. We will talk about it soon, I promise, and Paul." She turned towards him. "I really don't know what your problem is. You are older than Jacob. I expect a little bit more control from your side. Honestly! As you elder—don't roll your eyes at me—all I can say is try to use me as a role model. I pride myself on being patient, cool and collected at all times. And you are only seventeen, you have your whole future ahead of you. Do you really want to ruin it all in one single fit of rage? I didn't think so. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go back to the kitchen and take out my pie.

As she walked regally up those patio steps, with her back straight and head held high, Paul couldn't help but smirk at the filth and leaves and twigs that clung to the back of her dress. _Cool and collected, indeed!_ He turned to see that Jacob too was smirking at the back of his sister's dress. When he saw Paul looking at him, he scowled. "So you're 'Jakey'?" Paul teased in a sing-song voice. Jacob's scowl intensified into a glare before he turned towards the stairs. "Shut the fuck up, Paul!" Paul had one good solid laugh before following Jake back into the house. _He couldn't wait to share this new information with the guys._


End file.
